Blogs & Podcasts

Find early literacy tips and children's books on the Children's Blog. Discover your next great read on the Books Movies Music Blog. Dig into Nashville history with the Community History Blog. Listen to stories, history, and culture on NPL Podcasts. Please see this Note for Readers.

Cover of Kats Hats by Daniel Pinkwater. Image contains one boy wearing a blue and white striped scarf and an orange tabby cat in the shape of a hat on his head.
At Kat Hats Incorporated, cats are trained to serve as hats  for people looking for maximum warmth. Who is the warmest cat, however, and how will he rise to the challenge when his skills are called upon? 
anti diet christy harrison
Over half of Americans have dieted at some point in their lives. Upwards of 90% of those who have intentionally lost weight have gained it back within five years. Plus, over half of those who embark on weight-loss efforts, end up gaining more weight than they lost. Why are we so obsessed with dieting when it is clearly ineffective?  The problem is diet culture (aka the wellness diet): a system of beliefs that equates thinness to health and moral virtue. It promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status, and demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others. Ultimately, it's sexist, racist, and classist, yet it's so enmeshed in our moral fabric that it's hard to recognize and extricate. Today, it masquerades as health, wellness, fitness, and inspirational Instagrams, but it's still all-consuming and harmful.
Podcast
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The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Part 14

Welcome to The Arabian Nights Entertainments! This is the fourteenth of 16 parts that make up Andrew Lang’s The Arabian Nights Entertainments. In this series, you’ll hear some familiar stories, some new stories, and even stories within stories. Today’s story is The Enchanted Horse. A king is determined to possess a mechanical horse that can easily travel vast distances when his headstrong son leaps on without learning how to return home. After meeting (and falling in love with) a princess, the prince learns how to return home, and brings her home with him. When she is abducted and feigns mental illness, will the two young lovebirds ever find happiness?

Podcast
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It's Time for a Shift

Certainty ain't certain. Reasoning fluctuates. Thresholds contract. Questions emerge. Doubt abounds. Truth is, some things require re-examination, fresh eyes and shifting perspectives. If we're still thinking and speaking and believing old-school beliefs, perhaps it's time for a shift. How willing are you to see something differently?

Podcast
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The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Part 13

Welcome to The Arabian Nights Entertainments! This is the thirteenth of 16 parts that make up Andrew Lang’s The Arabian Nights Entertainments. In this series, you’ll hear some familiar stories, some new stories, and even stories within stories. Our story today is The Story of Ali Cogia, Merchant of Bagdad. A man is declared innocent of theft. Will the Caliph overturn a judgement after watching children play?